April 16

I am tired and not satisfied…

I have just came out from a long OTy[1] weekend, and when I said long I meant a 19-hour rally with 3 hours of sleep. All because the project I am with has once again been selected for a security audit and an internal audit will be conducted today.

The unplanned rally is caused by the short notice given to the project and the not-so-good state of our security documentation. Before somebody starts that it is our fault for not updating the security docs as we go along then please give us a charge number for that kind of work before you start pointing fingers. In typical corporate wheedling and cajoling, they (meaning the powers that be, or the power trippers as i call them) say that these should be part of the “continuous improvement” (CI) budget of the project. REALITY CHECK: WHAT CI BUDGET? We are on a fixed time arrangement with the client and just trying telling the client that “we would allocate a portion of the time you bought to spend on security work that is not part of the contract you signed, and thank you for understanding.”. Couple this with the fact that we are running overbudget for the things that the client actually paid for! It doesn’t take a super sleuth to figure out that we are between a hard rock and a PHB.

To make matters worse, I am not satisfied with the output because we are tasked to churn out security documentations “aligned” with the corporate “version”. No thank you because

  • I don’t believe the return of investment on those documentations is significant.
  • The template documents provided are either not enough or an overkill.
  • The person who created those template documents should stop using PCP. Reformatting them to look professional entails too much work.I reserve the right to save my co-team members from the atrocities of using too much colors in a document, and loud ones at that.
  • If I am going to churn out security measures, then I will at least have the decency of believing those are practical and not just for show.

Why did I go through it? Because of pressure to pass the audit since the whole office accreditation can go up in smoke for failing the external auditors, and I don’t have the heart to add more stress on my manager. She already has enough problems on her plate regarding the project going over-budget and CMMi (yes, that effectively makes it a four-letter word) demands for full compliance.

19 hours and we aren’t even halfway the 100% completion mark. I know I told my manager that what we are targeting now is just damage control but it is really disheartening whenever I see the completion ratio for the project. And after that I also need to consider going back to reality that I am also over-budget on the client deliverable that they want me to submit by end of this month. 🙁

End of rant for now. I need to check what else I can finish before the internal audit today.

[1] OTy, n., Short for O-Thank you, the free version of overtime.

ciao!

Category: Rubbish, Work | 4 Comments on I am tired and not satisfied…
March 9

Post Mortem

Post Mortem – After death.

This phrase is usually used in the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) to see what went wrong and what went right during the cycle in the hopes that it would be rectified and re-implemented in the next iteration of the SDLC. Unfortunately life is not like that. We only have one shot barring reincarnation that is not yet proven.

Before I proceed I would like to say that I don’t have suicidal inclinations, well at least not at the moment. I do however have the tendency sometimes to think about death objectively since, as they say, the only things sure in this world is death and taxes. 😀

Some have an irrational fear of death, considering it taboo to even talk about it for “fear” that talking about it is synonymous with inviting it. Experts always talk about worst-case scenarios and some of those are not even close to happening. I don’t have any fear of death but I am afraid of dying. There are still a lot more life has to offer but I am not afraid to miss those out if my time really has come. When you die you die right?

This post is really what I want and don’t want when I pass away from this existence. Feel free to join in but I would like to minimize religion to a minimum and deal with physical facts. As my father says, “when you leave this earth you no longer have a stake on what happens after”. Wise words. Death does not affect the departed but only those who were left alive.

Here are the things that I want to be done when I die:

  • If I am still young then I want my organs to be donated to those who can use them. I guess my eyes is out of the question and probably also my heart due to my unhealthy living, but somebody might need a liver or gallbladders. For those who are not aware, the back of the Philippine driver’s license can serve (upon accidental death) as a binding contract that will allow the paramedics to tag your organs for donation without notifying your next of kin. I have already checked mine and I think all should too. You won’t be able to make use of your organs after you pass away so it is much better to have somebody put them to better use.
  • I originally want my remains to be donated to medical schools for study and experimentation. I prefer if my body is donated to those medical students who have a hard time gathering the funds to buy a cadaver. I am thinking that by offering my cadaver I might be able to help save other lives. But I think this won’t come true as my wife said there is no way she is going to allow this. Since I won’t be able to object by then I don’t think I can do much about this. It is just my luck and bane that I married a loving but sentimental woman. 😀
  • If the above can’t be granted then I also would want my body to be buried in a backyard while being rolled in a straw mat. I initially wanted to be buried under a rice field so that my decomposed remains will serve as nutrients to the crops that will feed other people. I realized this would probably scare people so I settle on being buried in a backyard then have a fruit tree planted on top to mark my final resting place.

    A mango tree would be ideal. I can only imagine with glee with the thought of the tree’s primary root going through my rib cage, or its secondary root enclosing on my bones. Then after 10-15 years there would be children playing on the tree branches and enjoying the fruits. Some can even hang swings on the straight branches and maybe the thick foliage can help alleviate the heat during summer.

    Nice thoughts, I just hope it could still be done given that the land we purchased does not have any backyard and I think my family would get in trouble with the law if they did bury me there. 😀

  • The last resort would be to have my body cremated. My family can decide on what they want to do with the ashes. They can sprinkle it in the air (and cause some people asthma attacks), put it in a vase and display it the house, put them in pendants, or use them as seasoning when preparing dinner or lunch (ewwww!).

And here are the things I don’t want:

  • I don’t want my cadaver to be put on display during funerals. I don’t want to imagine people peering over my coffin and saying stupid things like “he looks like he was just sleeping” or “he looks very much alive”. Excuse me, you wont catch me wearing makeup and I would take it as an insult if you think I look better dead than alive. 😛

    My office mate’s mom had it figured out when she asked her remains to be cremated immediately after she passed away and in the funeral there were only the vase of her ashes and some pictures of her. I want it to be the same if my remains are to be cremated.

  • No flowers especially those in wreaths. I am dead remember? In case you don’t realize it, my sense of smell and sight went away with my life so I can’t smell and see anything. Do my family a favor and just give them the donation in cash so they would have something to spend for their basic needs. You can call it my final support to them if you really want to pay me respect.
  • I would really hate it if I had a funeral procession. How much respect can you get by clogging main roads just so your remains can be “escorted” to the cemetery in a snail pace? You are already dead and you are still causing grief to strangers. Nope, I don’t want that to be me. I would figuratively turn in my grave, or in that case in the coffin while on the way to my grave.

    If there will be funeral procession then please dont let anybody walk alongside the hearse. The practice of walking slowly beside the hearse is no longer applicable since that was done in the old times to avoid getting the light of the candles blown away. Nobody even uses candles during funeral processions today. Let everybody ride a car, jeep or tricycle but nobody walks. Period.

  • Don’t let my body decompose in a concrete-enclosed grave. I consumed a lot of food in this life so it is only proper that my body be returned back to nature. Call it “returning to the circle of life” or “ashes to ashes” but I don’t want to be useless at the very end. I have been useless enough when I was living.

Ending with my father’s universal response: “What about you?”

ciao!

Category: Rubbish | 2 Comments on Post Mortem
March 6

Its not about the ending

Last night we watched “Music & Lyrics” which is another feel-good movie. I really liked the humor of the film but my wife doesn’t. She said she prefers “The Holiday” which is another feel-good movie we watched a couple of weeks ago.

I like both films but I feel they are not comparable. My wife said that M&L is too predictable but feel-good movies are not about the ending. Endings are just icing on the cake for these type of films, what is important is the journey and how the story developed to reach that predictable ending. M&L was the fast-paced story type while TH is more of a “keep you guessing what more they could squeeze in before you have to face the ending” type of story. On both types the viewers are already aware that there are only two endings: a happy one or a sad one, and I never doubted that both movies will opt for the happy one.

I don’t know if this is valid but when I saw the trailer for M&L in the movies there was a scene where Hugh’s character(?) said (in typically haughty british accent) “Oh my god, you are killing the song…” which was pretty funny. I didn’t notice it in the movie last night though so I don’t know if they edited it out, I missed it, or I am purely delusional.

Anyway, add those movies in your feel-good movie list. In mine, they accompany “Click” and “40 first dates”. Adam Sandler makes good movies of this type, well most of the time. 🙂

ciao!

Category: Movies, Rubbish | LEAVE A COMMENT
March 6

Unang Hirit rocks (or hits)!

Long live Unang Hirit!

Since the college days I have been a fan of UH over the competitor from the other network. The hosts, especially Arnold Clavio, is more realistic. I dont care if the other morning programs want to cover everything up in niceties to promote a positive energy. That is the reason why our country is shot to bits, because the *blessed* powers-that-be always try to paint a bright and giddy picture when our country is wallowing in the mud. What our people needs is a reality check. Arnold Clavio’s side-comments are really funny because they reflect the truth. The best so far in the past two weeks are the following (might be paraphrased from my memory):

  • “Ikaw siguro, pero ang mga tao sa Makati hindi.” (Maybe you do, but the people of Makati don’t) – regarding a segment wherein Manny Paquiao (the talented Filipino boxer delusional with ambitions of politics) was campaigning for Lito Lapid and was quoted to say that incumbent mayor Jejomar Binay has been serving Makati for so long and it might be time to replace him. Yeah, real rational thought from a champion. If a person is doing good service then replace him with an incompetent.
  • “Tuloy nyo lang yan, wala namang nahuhuli at napaparusahan.” (Just continue doing that, nobody gets caught and punished anyway) – referring to the irrational overspending for the senatorial elections. The comment insinuates the incompetence of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to enforce the electoral regulations.

There are a lot more but you have to really be an open-minded Filipino to appreciate them. More power UH!

ciao!

Category: Garbage | 2 Comments on Unang Hirit rocks (or hits)!
February 12

Internet is bad.

And employees are rotten. This is the reason why companies need to institute proxy filtering technologies to ensure that productivity is enforced. You won’t find any arguments from me regarding this matter. The company is paying me my salary thus I am expected to render 8 productive hours each day (I don’t have overtime pay benefits).

What I am fussing about is if the company would put such mechanism in place then they should create a fast exception mechanism since there are still good sites in the Internet. This has been a gripe I had with the Websense mechanism that have been installed since last year. The company opted for the “Filter everything except…” route which means that they are religiously applying the WebSense filter updates that trickles down daily. WebSense is actually good in the sense that they have about 90% accuracy in classifying sites if we are talking about generic rule sets. However since we are in the IT development business then the rules need to be customized which WebSense is actually recommending.

Now here is the fuzzy part. Imagine you are working in the migration of a technology used by a client to a fairly new technology. What would be your primary resource for the troubles you are encountering? If you are fairly tech savvy then the answer would be Internet, right? What would you do if you suddenly found out that the sites that may have the answer to the problem causing you to have hair loss has been blocked by your company’s proxy filter? My answer would be to file for an exemption. What if I then told you that you would receive a reply within 45 days for a resolution to a problem blocking you from completing your 7-day task? What I actually did was raise hell about it but I do not have the flair of a seasoned statesman, or a Dilbert manager. My attempts to have a fast-reacting exemption system is met with standard “those sites have information that could impact our security” type of explanations.

The problem I think is that those actually doing the security doesn’t realize that we are working on a broad fields of technology. What is wasteful in say manufacturing might not be in software development teams. They say that they are aware on the complexities of having a diverse development clients but I don’t think they understand it at all. Awareness doesn’t guarantee understanding.

Before you judge me as being idealistic, know that I have pointed out alternative ways such as creating a separate team whose task is to validate site exemption request submitted to an internal site. I even volunteered my free time for that endeavour. But apparently it will cost too much time and it is far easier to block all message boards and mailing list archives. Usenet archives? Blocked. All blogs and virtual hosted sites? Blocked. Sourceforge development utilities? Blocked. JUnit for ensuring correct code modification? Hah, dream on. They even went so far as block IBM and Eclipse information sites. DAMN IT, WHAT ELSE REMAINS?

//waiting for google.com to be blocked

ciao!

Category: Garbage, Work | 4 Comments on Internet is bad.
February 11

Red means Go, Green means stop!

We went home to Nueva Ecija over the weekend and, I don’t know if it is because election time is around the corner again, there was an improvement on the Cabanatuan portion of Cagayan road (the main highway). Stop lights have been installed at most intersections!!! Never mind that the installation posts seem to be shoddy as they aren’t even straight but *SOME* seem to be even working! Imagine that, a stoplight that actually works! In Cabanatuan! It’s like twilight zone or something…

And here is the best part; nobody is paying correct attention to them. Having been driving in more urban cities like Manila, I am extra careful of following the stop lights thus it is already instinctive for me to slowdown when I see orange, stop when it turns to red and patiently wait for the green light. In Cabanatuan this action will only get you a lot of honking as nobody expects these lights to work and most are just blinking orange.

On the way back we approached an intersection wherein the light in our direction was set to red. I was elated to see that the vehicles (mostly tricycles) in both sides of the road are following the traffic light and they aren’t slowly inching their way on crossing the intersection. I was elated since this means that there is still hope for the Cabanatuan drivers! I patiently stopped and waited for our lights to turn green which it did after a couple of minutes.

I shifted to first gear and started to get ready to move but the vehicles in front of me are not moving. A couple of minutes and we are still not moving! The lights begin to change to red and that is the only time they begin to move. Following the flow of traffic we actually crossed the intersection under a red light. What made it more disgusting is that there was a traffic policeman directing the flow of traffic on one of the corners. Sheesh! If the traffic police can’t follow the functioning traffic light then how can the drivers be expected to do so?

Nueva Ecija, kailan ka magbabago?!?!?!

ciao!

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February 4

Who became catatonic?

Aside from this site? Nobody… 🙂

For those who came in via the catatonic url, I am temporarily changing the domain of the capsule since I am unable to access it with the nazi-istic webproxy filters in the office. I know it is about security and policies but if they really want to secure the place then they shouldnt give me a computer with an optical drive. At some point you have to trust your people because treating them like guilty criminals will only provoke them to act like one.

Anyway, hopefully the other domain would allow me to post some from the office where I spend >14hours a day. This is temporary until I could get this workaround to work. 🙂

ciao!

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February 4

Leave the pseudo-politics to the dirty ones…

I was going to comment this post on Chris’ blog about Manny Pacquiao entering politics but it was something I wanted to write about (the fame+politics bit and not the MP-specific issue) so I am making it a blog-entry in itself. It also gives me an alibi of keeping this blog alive. 🙂

I just saw in the TV a couple of mornings ago that Manny wont be able to file for candidacy in GenSan because he needs to have one year residence in the city and he still have residency in Manila.

If Manny ever runs for office then that will only show that he has taken too many blows in the head. As a boxer he has shown that he has the capability to unite the nation but as a politician he has the capability of splitting the nation into a few more pieces. If ever he enters politics then it is already a given that he will win the first time because:

  • Majority of the Filipino voters are stupid. They equate popularity with capacity to serve.
  • Manny is from GenSan so he has a home court advantage.
  • Manny is currently at the peak of his career ergo he is famous ergo most voters will pick him because they are stupid.
  • Majority of the Filipino voters are stupid.

Did I say that most voters are stupid? I meant to say they are uninformed, stubborn *and* stupid.

If ever Manny will win then there are 3 outcomes:

  • the omnipotent force in this universe will smile on him, protect him, grant him the wisdom similar to what was reputed to be given to King Solomon, grant him the courage to fight the dirty political machinery, and the temperance to not be drunken with power. He will then be able to serve his constituents like how naive children envision serving others would be.
  • be a political lackey since he has no idea about governance.
  • be the sugar-daddy of the people he meant to serve until he has already blown all of the savings he got from boxing. And then he
    • would be forgotten because he does not have anything else to offer, or
    • He would succumb to the system of kickbacks and be an avid follower of traditional politicking.

This is why I admire Efren ‘Bata’ Reyes. He makes the nation proud and he has the common sense to keep out of politics. He knows he can help more via his own little ways.

ciao!

Category: Rubbish | 4 Comments on Leave the pseudo-politics to the dirty ones…
January 29

Hardware Gremlins

For anybody who has done support work (paid or gratis) the scenario below is very familiar:

My non-techie neighbor, who is also on the same morning shuttle service that my wife and I are taking, just purchased a new computer for her kids. I just provided some inputs on the parts but all-in-all she went with the recommendation of their office IT guy.

After a few days my neighbor asked if I could drop by to see why the new computer won’t connect to the dial-up service. She said that their IT guy has already done some initial test on it and they could connect just fine. Since I am on good terms with my neighbor I said I will drop by when I have free time.

Due to conflict of schedules I was only able to take a look at the computer last Sunday after my wife and I arrived from our trip to Nueva Ecija. Expecting that the problem will be with the internal modem I dug up my old diamond supra external modem and proceeded to my neighbor’s house. The workstation runs Window XP. I made a half-hearted effort to pitch Linux but ,knowing the users, I cannot commit to providing 24×7 support line and besides my neighbor is adamant on having ‘Print Artist’ on the computer because it is the primary reason why she bought the machine. I didn’t understand the reasoning but it sways on the issue of it being a crucial part of school work. (NOTE: Don’t ask me about Print Artist because the last time I saw a version was circa ’97. If you want to talk about graphics software then talk to my wife. I am happy being artistically-challenged. Thank you.)

Back to the topic. The computer was configured to auto-login to the administrator account (yippee! instant-admin+XP! what else can you wish for?). I checked the Device Manager and the internal modem seems to be detected without any problems. I tried to dial-up and the pop-up dialog just hangs there and throws out an indecipherable error after a minute or two. I plugged in my external modem and transferred the phone cables. The modem was detected correctly. I disabled the internal modem to ensure that all dial-up activities will be routed to the external modem. When I tried to connect I was greeted with a “No dial tone.” message.

Ah, we are getting somewhere. I then checked to see if there is really a faulty connection. I picked up the receiver of the phone to see if there is indeed no dial tone since it is connected via the modem. Egad! There is a dial tone!!!!

Scratching my head, I assume that this is a Windows problem. I went back home to get my Knoppix LiveCD to verify my assumption. When I got back the company technician who assembled the unit arrived. As I explained my assumptions to him he watched as I booted the system in Knoppix and answered questions about running Linux on the desktop. When KDE is up I opened a terminal and did a quick check on the modem using this command:

echo > /dev/ttyS0

The lights on the modem gave a few blinks so it was definitely working. I created a new dial-up account using the information on the prepaid card. When I started the dial-up connection I was greeted by the very warm message “no dial tone”.

Scratching my head, I took out my liveCD and rebooted the machine to Windows. I gave the machine to the tech so he could do his thing. Being the tech he is, he wanted to see everything for himself so he opened the dial-up window and fired the connection. After 5 seconds THE UNIT HAPPILY AUTHENTICATED WITH THE DIALUP SERVER!

My jaw dropped. Wha– How– whe—? I can only shake my head in disbelief. Another gremlin incident has wasted 30 minutes of my time and what is worse the tech didn’t do anything special! This was really a role reversal since I was usually at the other end when officemates asks me to troubleshoot their computer issues. 🙂

Oh well, I just gave the tech my Knoppix livecd. At least something good came out of the experience since I have introduced another IT professional to the world of Linux. There is no guarantee that he will use it but at least he now has the knowledge that Windows is not the only OS out there.

ciao!

Category: Garbage | LEAVE A COMMENT
January 14

The 3/4th Pedestrian Dash Principle

Only in the Philippines (I think)…

I just cant understand what drives pedestrian to make a sudden dash to cross the road but stop at about 3/4ths of the road. I know that normal people by instinct have a tendency to fear being hit by an oncoming vehicle so I cant for the life of me fathom why crossing pedestrians always stop at that specific point of crossing. Three-fourths of the road means that you an approaching vehicle will not just clip you but hit you head-on. The safe zones (if there are any) is halfway, where the vehicles of both lanes can afford to leave unused, and at the other side of the road. Stopping anywhere else is a death wish.

I initially thought that it was because people are slowing down from their mad dash to cross the road but I dont see the point of slowing down so your body is at the dead center of the approaching vehicle. It would be safer to slowdown after you have reached the other side of the road unless there is not enough sidewalk to perform the slowdown. Seeing this behavior frequently shows that this is not an isolated case to a specific location. I have seen it in the cities as well as in the not-so-developed parts of the country. I have seen this behavior in people of varying age, gender and sexual preferences. There is some logic in all this craziness but I am at wits end trying to figure it out. Anybody notices this behavior and want to help me puzzle this out?

ciao!

Category: Garbage | 3 Comments on The 3/4th Pedestrian Dash Principle